Review: Emerald City Confidential
I have quite a soft spot for point-and-click adventure games. As a child, the likes of Sam and Max, Broken Sword and Monkey Island kept me glued to my computer screen and kept my brain ticking. Recent takes of the genre haven't really done it for me - until now.
Emerald City Confidential is Wadjet Eye Games' concept for a sequel to the well-loved Wizard of Oz and they have pulled it off with such finesse, I was enthralled the entire time.
Trying to take on such a well-known story could quite easily have been a disaster. It doesn't matter whether you are a fan of L. Frank Baum's 1900 classic or not; You will still at least know the story partially, from the name Dorothy to the Yellow Brick Road. Wadjet Eye have taken the serene settings of that story and plunged them into a grainy 1940's underworld, complete with drunkards, blackmail and war.
The story follows Petra, Emerald City's only detective, as she tries to solve the case of a missing person. Of course, things are never as simple as that, and she is soon emersed in an epic tale of crime and magic.
It's a wonderfully thought-up tale and fits the bill perfectly. The voice-acting is great, the hand-drawn characters and backgrounds are gorgeous, some even Curse of Monkey Island-esque and the puzzles have just about the right amount of detail without giving the answer away too much.
Emerald City Confidential is quite easily one of the first essential indie picks of 2009. Grab a copy now from PlayFirst, or give the demo a run over at Wadjet Eye Games.
Comments
It's great to see Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games progress all the way from tiny AGS adventures to the really big time!
Posted by: SSH | February 20, 2009 1:32 PM
So how long is this game? Surely not as long as a Lucasarts title?
Posted by: Eddie | February 22, 2009 9:52 PM
You could click through it in 4 to 10 hours, depending on the number of hints you use.
Posted by: Benjamin Baxter | April 12, 2009 8:49 AM